That man in the lede photo is His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, Emperor of the United States. Born Joshua Abraham Norton in England, he grew up in South Africa before moving to San Francisco in 1849 after receiving $40,000 from his father’s estate. He became a businessman and, apparently, did alright until […]

Earlier, our Dear Leader posed the question of who is the best villain from science fiction or fantasy. This got me thinking. If I were a villain, what would I like to be my lair? I would need someplace ominous and, preferably underground. Because all of the best lairs are underground. The options seem endless. An old submarine base in Norway. A private island connected to land only by a footbridge. A castle near Miami with a moat. However, one stuck out to me. Maybe because it actually isn’t for sale, so some nefarious villain-y deals would have to be made to get it. It’s the Fire Brigade Margreid in Margreid, Italy. When the town decided to build a new facility for their volunteer fire department, they didn’t want to use any expensive, precious land. So, they dug the fire headquarters into the side of a cliff. This makes it energy efficient and the perfect place from which my dog can launch her world domination schemes.